The Splintered Years
by I-HateKimi
Summary: Be thankful for everything, for soon there will be nothing
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm only going to give one disclaimer, it is implied to carry throughout the entire story. If you don't recognize it, it's mine. If you do, it's Danny Boyle's. Or someone else's. Parts will stick true to the movie, but others will be incorporated by my own imagination. If you don't like it, then you can fuck off.

**Prologue**

No one saw it coming, the virus.

War in the Middle East, riots in the streets, murders and domestic abuse. That was our world, desensitized to it by the internet and video games.

Then a small article in the Daily Mail - a few chimpanzees in the zoo were sick. It was only placed there because of dwindling ad sales; no one paid attention or cared. A few weeks later, there was a bigger article (only slightly) about testing the chimps. The threat of Ebola was spreading, the threat started to spread quickly. The infected chimps became famous as they were removed from the zoos and brought into a treatment center.

Radical groups, animal rights activists, believed they were being tested on with chemicals and poisons, and tried desperately to free them. But security was tight on the animals, no one wanted them loose. There were rumors that a few did get in, but no word of freed chimps spread across the journals.

And then one day it stopped.

There were no new reports on the chimps, there were no reports at all. All broadcasting had stopped because it was coming through your doors, through your windows. The threat of Ebola was no longer only a threat; the virus had spread to humans. It spread more quickly and efficiently than any cold or flu.

Airports, bus terminals, subways - the lot were shut down.

If you weren't Infected, you were being attacked.

Survivors were dwindling to single digits - all they could hear was screaming.

And then there was silence.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Just in case anyone's wondering (if anyone's even going to read this..) this is who I imagine is Lane. .fm/serve/_/5333177/Marina++the+Diamonds+

Jim remains as Cillian Murphy, that gorgeous son of a bitch.

**Chapter One**

Silence.

What had once been sweet, beautiful silence.. that was all I knew now. I strained my ears to hear any sort of noise - a cat caterwauling or a car's alarm system blaring, but there was nothing. Perhaps I took the silence for granted, when it was broken was when you knew you were in trouble. But sometimes it seemed to almost press down on me, like a tangible entity. I guess that's why they called it 'deafening silence'?

I wanted to sleep longer, but the sunlight that was infiltrating my eyelids made that impossible. This happened every single morning at 6:30 , I'd be shocked out of sleep by the illuminating rape of my eyes. Once again, I made the mental note to find something to block my tiny window, knowing full well I wouldn't take action. Since I was already awake, I decided to start my day.

First, I would brush my teeth with whatever water I had left. If there was none, I brushed them dry. Next, I'd crack open a can for breakfast - today was tinned ravioli. These two rituals took all of half an hour, and by seven am, I was on my way.

Slowly, I crawled out of the crawl space I was now inhabiting. It was tiny, and dirty, but it was safe. No one ever thought to look there, since the house I lived under was abandoned anyway. I kept my machete -my weapon of choice - just outside, to ensure I wouldn't leave the house unarmed, and after making sure the coast was clear, I started my slow walk to the grocer's.

The streets were as deserted as they'd ever been. I'd been three weeks without seeing a soul, but the absence of a human presence didn't bother me. I enjoyed the solitude, it meant I wasn't going to die. It did, however, cause me to have an abnormal amount of conversations with myself. I kept them in my head; my voice would attract the Infected.

"What are we going to eat today?" I'd ask myself, feeling like Gollum.

"I think I saw some apples last time that weren't rotten, perhaps we'll knick a few of those." I mused back, swinging my machete absentmindedly.

The feeling of constantly being watched caused me to walk quickly, almost on the verge of breaking into a run. But if I ran, they'd chase me, I knew that very well. I reached the grocer's without incident and picked up a few essentials to keep my body somewhat healthy. A few bottles of water since I was running low. Then back to the house to read a book until the sun went down. I'd go to sleep, and start my ritual over again tomorrow.

I'd stopped looking for other survivors - being alive was as good as it gets.

"What're we going to eat today?" I asked myself silently as I walked to the grocer. I was trying a different one today, since my usual was running low on supplies.

"You know, I'm not really hungry." I thought back as I crossed the street, keeping an eye out for any sort of weaponry shop. I'd love to have a gun... perhaps an AK-47 would make a girl feel better.

I walked up to the revolving doors, grimacing at my reflection. My once thick, brown hair was a grey color from ash, mashed down from almost a month of not washing it. My face was almost the same color. I'd always considered myself pleasant-looking, but now... I wondered if I could fit in with the Infected. If I walked and looked like them, perhaps they wouldn't know I was actually still human? Laughing quietly at the silly thought, I started to push my way past the mechanical doors.

That's when the silence of London was broken.

The bone chilling sound of the Infected screaming rang through the morning air, causing my heart to stop. The noise was rather far away, but it was coming closer. It was accompanied by the sound of running footsteps -dozens from what I could tell.

Gripping my machete tighter in my fist, I tried harder to shove my way into the building before they could see me, but the door didn't want to budge. Harder, I shoved with my shoulder, anything to put a barricade between me and the mob that was chasing... a man. The mob was chasing a man, they hadn't spotted me yet.

I could be safe, if I could just get into the fucking building.

As I pushed on the glass, I kept my eyes on the approaching crowd. The man.. he was young, the poor man was going to die. His face looked terrified, hopeless, like he knew he was going to die. Which was quite logical, to be honest. If you had twenty-something Infected chasing you through the streets, odds were you were going to die.

My heart didn't go out to him - if he was dumb enough to be caught, he deserved to die.

My brain and my heart were thinking two different things, however, because I found myself yelling "OVER HERE!" and waving my arms frantically to get his attention.

"_Stupid stupid stupid!_ _You're a moron, Lane!_" I criticized myself silently as the man veered off, running straight for me now, and bringing the mass amount of undead with him. The adrenaline of having to carry him from his death caused him to slam into the door beside me - had it been any other situation, I would've laughed at him. He turned and looked at me, a smile spreading across his face.

"Hi! I'm Jim!" He said a little too happily for our situation, sticking his hand out as if we were to shake.

I looked at him in pure disgust before snapping "Help me get the door open!"

The army of Infected was drawing closer, and he wanted to exchange pleasantries?

With the two of us shoving, the door budge just enough for our slender frames to slip into. I was this small from eating close to nothing for a month, I had the body of a starving model... if models still existed.

We got into the building just in time, the first of the bodies were trying to break down the door.

"Move it!" I screamed, grabbing his hand to pull him to the back of the building. Granted I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I had to put as much space between myself and the Infected as I possibly could.

Together, the two of us quickly found our way through the maze of aisles and shelving units, heading towards the Pharmacy, where I spotted a small window. I picked up the speed, letting go of his hand and launching myself onto the counter, desperately trying to pry the window open with my bare hands. It moved quickly, as things never do in this situation, and the two of us hurtled ourselves to the ground. I knew I had to get back to the house, if I could just get back then I would be safe. The coast was clear, the Infected hadn't figured out to surround the building yet, and I ran as quickly as I could to my street.

Something was wrong, nothing ever went this smoothly when the Infected were concerned. But it seemed the Universe had me in their favor today, for we made it to my 'home' safely. I shoved this 'Jim' into the crawlspace unceremoniously, sliding in behind him.

I'd never noticed how small it was until there were two people inside, I had to refrain from pulling away when I realized his knee was actually touching mine. I'd always hated touching people, I hated hugs and holding hands. Perhaps that's why I was thriving on the solitude.

I peered out of the small window, but the silence was back. If the Infected didn't get their prey immediately, they were more than likely to give up and go back to whatever the fuck they did to pass their time.

Once I'd decided we were safe, I turned on Jim, snarling, "If you EVER pull a stunt like that again, I'll fucking leave you behind! You got me?"

He looked stunned, his mouth parted slightly as he asked "What did I do?"

"Do you think it's a joke, when they're chasing you? Did you think this is a simple game of tag?"

"Who is 'they'?"

I starred at him in shock. "Who.. who do you think the fucking things chasing you were?"

"Oh, them... yeah. I like te get them te chase me, I think it's funny when I outrun them. I had an escape plan, but you started yelling so I had to make sure you were safe."

"Are you fucking mental?" I snapped, trying to keep my voice low. "Is this just a game to you? You fuckass, I should've just left you in the goddamn street! Now you listen to me, and you listen well, Jim. If you slow me down, if you in any way endanger _my_ life, I'll leave you behind in a heart beat."

"In a heart beat?"

"In a heart beat."

He starred at his feet for a while before nodding, saying quietly "I won't in any way endanger _your _life, Miss... you gotta name?" I frowned at him, wishing I had a cigarette just so I would have something to do with my hands.

"Lane, Lane Kinsley."

"Well, Miss Lane, no worries for you now. You have me to protect you."

I had to bite my tongue and take a deep breath to keep myself from hitting him.

"What do you expect from us? Are you going to find a cure? Or are we just going to fall in love and fuck?"

He didn't respond, he was too busy going through my book collection, and after a long pause I snarled "Shut up and go to sleep. I have to relocate, they're getting too close. You can stay here for all I bloody well care."


End file.
